Kevin Smith

Editor, Actor, Producer

Ever since his emergence onto the national stage, writer-director Kevin Smith became the idol of aspiring filmmakers everywhere when his independent feature "Clerks" (1994) - made for a startlingly low sum of $27,575 ... Read more »

Ever since his emergence onto the national stage, writer-director Kevin Smith became the idol of aspiring filmmakers everywhere when his independent feature "Clerks" (1994) - made for a startlingly low sum of $27,575 - earned awards at both the Cannes and Sundance film festivals and went on to become a wild success in limited art house release. Self-referential to a fault, Smith used his films to expand his fictional universe populated with a regular cast of characters who eventually crossed over into other mediums, including comic books and an animated television series. Smith was in top form with his third feature, "Chasing Amy" (1997), though he took critical hits for later work like "Dogma" (1999) and "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" (2001), both of which were admired by rabid fans, but panned by the public at large. Always assured with slacker characters, raunchy dialogue, "Star Wars" (1977) references and endless penis jokes, Smith did occasionally step outside his comfort zone - as he did with "Jersey Girl" (2004) - though such efforts were usually followed up with returns to more of the same, marking Smith as a champion of the Gen-X crowd, but often out of touch with wider audiences.

Formed production company View Askew

Wrote script for "Clerks"

Inspired to start a film career after seeing "Slacker," Richard Linklater's film about shiftless youth

He was not to be confused with New Zealand actor Kevin Smith.

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Smith owned the comic book store Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, NJ. The success of "Clerks" (1994) enabled him to buy back the "hawked" collection, which had helped finance its making.

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Smith wrote a series of "Jay & Silent Bob" comics (based on characters from his films) and "Clerks. (The Comic Book)," as well as teaming with artist Joe Quesada for six issues of Marvel Comics' "Daredevil."

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In February 2010, Smith was ejected from a Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland to Burbank, CA because the airline said he didn't fit properly in a single seat. Smith raised a stink about the incident on his Twitter page, saying "I'm way fat, but I'm not there just yet" and "If you look like me, you may be ejected from Southwest Air." Southwest says its "Customer of Size" policy required travelers must be able to fit safely and comfortably in one seat or make other arrangements.